So this last Thursday I decided that after doing quite a bit of research that I would take the plunge into dyeing yarn with kool-aid. I spent about three days reading through blog after blog compiling information on what was going to be the best dyeing route for me. Some of the things I put into consideration was space constraints I live in what would be referred to as a studio dorm. I live upstairs but share the downstairs kitchen and bathroom. So needless to say dyeing using the stove top was out of the question.
The two different options I looked into were microwave dyeing and Crockpot hot pour method. The microwave version consist’s of using a microwavable dish, kool-aid mixture, and water. Sounds really convenient I know except I wanted to dye about 200 plus yards of yarn and unfortunately canning jars just don’t quite fit that all that well when trying to do verrigated. So after reading a bit more I finally stumbled upon the crockpot method and I fell in love. It allows for multiple color’s and I could fit up to 400 yards of yarn if I wanted to since I have a medium size. And I could dye in the comfort of my room with only the smell of hot kool-aid and wool. 🙂 It’s a win in my book.
The 3 blogs I used for this project are Knit purl girl’s website which I know am addicted to reading yes yes I took the time to read all of her old blogs to the currant ones. ^^; Her’s was the method I used to try my first attempt. The second site Leethal is for more advanced ways to do multiple colors in your crockpot which I highly recommending reading all three of her dyeing pages as she also includes a tutorial for how to achieve self striping yarn through dyeing. And lastly I also used Knitty as they have a fantastic color yarn chart for which kool-aids give you what color!!!!!!
With all of that research under my belt I bent to the task and came out with
lemony,lime, and orangey goodness
The Only thing I forgot to do in the whole process was to make sure I used hot water in the kool-aid….oopsy I did a cold pour right into a hot water bath….erk. And a note to anyone who does this you have to make sure whatever yarn you are using is 75% or more natural fiber like wool, alpaca, angora etc. etc. You can not dye cotton or silk with kool-aid hence why my cotton string is really bright white in the photo it didn’t take any of the dye. And PATIENCE!!!!! do not stir or move your wool around to much once wet as it will FELT!!!! I maybe sorta wasn’t patient enough and my wool was starting to stick together and trying to felt…..^.^; yikes!
For those of you interested in trying to dye this is definitely a great starter project to get yourself familiar with if you might like to do dyeing. The plus side to dyeing with kool-aid is that you can use anything in your kitchen and not worry about ruining it and calling it off limits for cooking in. No chemicals or acids in this method!!!! 🙂 You can also dye with your kids by having them paint the yarn and then you can man the microwave. DO NOT let kids touch the yarn once you start heating it up as it will get very hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAVE FUN AND ENJOY!!!!
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